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England refuses Welsh request on World Cup clash

London

England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) has rejected a proposal from its Welsh counterparts that the 2015 Rugby World Cup match between England and Wales be played in Cardiff.

England, the host, was drawn in the same group as Wales in Monday's draw, prompting the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to suggest the encounter between the sides should take place at the Millennium Stadium in the Welsh capital.

England's bid to host the event listed the south Wales stadium as a potential venue for up to eight matches but RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie said that England would prefer to tackle Wales on home ground.

"We have a very nice home of our own and I would hope very much we would contemplate playing the match here," he said on Tuesday, before proceeding tongue-in-cheek.

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"With our modest little stadium here at Twickenham, with the further investment we might be able to make it into a decent spot to play rugby.

"We equally believe we are very good hosts here and that we could hold a decent game here and would very much want to do that. Shock, horror and astonishment that I would suggest that!

"We will not get a better opportunity to inspire people to play rugby, be volunteers and participate in rugby. We are putting the building blocks in place to make sure we can take the most advantage of having the World Cup."

Ritchie is overseeing a £76 million ($US122.4 million, €93.6 million) upgrade of Twickenham, the home of English rugby.

Twickenham seats 82,000 fans, making it the biggest stadium in the world used solely for rugby, while the Millennium Stadium has a capacity of 74,500.

England and Wales were drawn alongside Australia in a daunting Group A and could also be joined by Fiji as qualifiers from Oceania.